Leaf
Liliane Roubaudi, Tela Botanica · CC BY-SA 2.0
Hyssop
Hyssopus officinalis L.
Family: Lamiaceae
40 to 60 cm tall
Vegetable gardens, rockeries, dry gardens, free-draining soils
Flowering: July – September
Full sun
Hardy to -20°C
❓ How do you recognise this plant?
Used since antiquity as a purifying plant, it is an ingredient of certain liqueurs such as Chartreuse.
🍃 Leaves
Evergreen, narrow, linear, bright green, aromatic
🌸 Flowers
Spikes of blue-violet flowers, sometimes pink or white
🍎 Fruits
Small dry nutlets
🪵 Bark
Low stems woody at the base, bushy habit
🗺️ Distribution
Southern Europe, Mediterranean basin; cultivated and sometimes naturalised on dry slopes in France.
🐝 Value for pollinators
Blue-violet spikes rich in nectar, among the most attractive to bees and butterflies in summer.
✂️ Horticultural uses
Aromatic borders, small clipped hedges, cottage herb gardens; evergreen, fragrant foliage.
⚠️ Possible toxicity
No notable toxicity known at culinary doses; concentrated essential oil is not recommended for uncontrolled internal use.
🌿 Other Lamiaceae to discover
ℹ️ Educational profile — do not use it to judge whether a plant is edible or safe.
🌱 This database is constantly evolving — species and information are added and corrected regularly. Spotted a mistake? Report it below.
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